The city of Fayetteville is proposing an addition to its zoning ordinance allowing form-based zoning in the West Fayetteville area. Proposed section 94-172.1 will allow developers to submit master development plans in order to develop parcels in a way that would normally be unavailable under traditional Euclidean zoning within West Fayetteville. The West Fayetteville Planned Community District (“WFPD”) Ordinance will add to the preexisting Planned Community District ordinance in place in the Fayetteville Code under section 94-172 in order to achieve specific goals in West Fayetteville. Developers may receive form-based zoning for the pursuit of these goals.The city is seeking to encourage the design of pedestrian-scale residential and nonresidential activities in such a way as to reduce the number and type of vehicle trips. The goal is to limit congestion and thereby improve air quality and to encourage mixed use development.
To achieve these goals, the city will allow developers to have greater flexibility under the current zoning scheme. The WFPD Ordinance will allow developers to submit master development plans that may diverge from preexisting zoning as long as the plan complies with the provisions of the WFPD Ordinance. The ordinance will allow the creation of form-based zoning districts, distinct in scope and purpose, to attach to parcels of land within the West Fayetteville Area.
Among other things, the provisions of the WFPD Ordinance limit where certain types of buildings may be built, the façade that buildings in certain locations may have, frontage requirements for each zone, green-space, and general land use. The ordinance splits the region into 6 transect zones: low density residential, low density mixed use, medium density mixed use, medium density mixed use with taller buildings, medium to high density mixed use, and a special district reserved for large or unanticipated uses. Development proposals will have to comply with the transect zones and will have to ensure compliance with 12 tables that help illustrate the development envisioned by the drafters.
The WFPCD Ordinance clearly outlines the process by which a developer may apply for form-based zoning in West Fayetteville and how such applications will be assessed. Developers may submit a master development plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review and upon approval the plan becomes the guiding document of the corresponding parcels. The Development Form Code in subsection 4 of the ordinance functions as a design tool that developers must follow in choosing the scale, form, and placement of buildings on sites to be represented in the master development plan. The Ordinance suggests that compliance will lead to developers achieving form-based zoning for the parcels they choose to develop.
To see a draft of this revised Ordinance, CLICK HERE.